In-Person Artist Talk with Leah DeVun
Sat, May 3, 2 PM
Please join us in the gallery for an in-person artist talk with May exhibiting artist Leah DeVun, whose exhibition Resemblance will be on view at Blue Sky from May 1 -31, 2025.
Leah DeVun (American, b. 1973, she/her) is a Brooklyn-based artist and scholar who documents queer and transgender lives and histories. Publications presenting DeVun’s artwork include Artforum, BOMB, People, Hyperallergic, LA Review of Books, Out, Art Papers, Feature Shoot, Redbook, Slate, Capricious, LA Weekly, Buzzfeed, and Refinery29, as well as recent collections such as Queer Art: From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between and Making Home, the Smithsonian Design Triennial. Her work has been selected for the New York (Times) Portfolio Review, Photolucida’s Critical Mass Top 50, SPRING/BREAK Art Show (NYC), PhotoVogue Festival (Milan, with Eye Mama Project), ImageNation (Milan and Paris), and as a finalist for the 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize. Venues presenting her artwork include Baxter Street Camera Club, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Blanton Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Houston Center for Photography, Leslie-Lohman Museum, Kate Werble Gallery, Mrs. Gallery, ONE Archives Gallery and Museum at USC, Royal Photographic Society (UK), Stonewall National Museum and Archives, Tang Teaching Museum, and Tracey-Barry Gallery at NYU, among others. DeVun is a Professor of History at Rutgers University and is the author of three books and collections, including, most recently, The Shape of Sex: Nonbinary Gender from Genesis to the Renaissance.
Organizer
Founded as the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts by a group of five young photographers in 1975, Blue Sky quickly established itself as an important venue for local photography. In a short period of time, the organization expanded its offerings to include national and international artists, many of whom exhibited at Blue Sky early in their careers. Blue Sky’s special endeavor continues to be the exhibition of emerging and established artists that exemplify the finest in photographic vision and innovation. As such, Blue Sky has earned the accolade as having “the best record of discovering new photographers of any artists’ space in the country.” Today, from our 3,700-square-foot facility in Portland’s historic DeSoto Building, Blue Sky presents 20 – 25 exhibitions annually, maintains a public research library, showcases regional photographers in an annual juried exhibition of original works in its Pacific Northwest Drawers, and offers artist talks and programs — all free to the public.